Blog 3

Beautiful. There are a variety of definitions to define the meaning of being beautiful. Yet, as women we work so hard to obtain an image that does not have a concrete definition. The media has done an excellent job in influencing women what the perfect body image should look like. Women are working hard to be a certain size. Women are undergoing plastic surgeries to uphold an “ideal” image. Cases of anorexia and bulimia make me realize that some women are not aiming towards to being healthy, but rather towards being thin. I think as women, sometimes we forget that our body compositions are genetically different. We should not force our bodies to look a certain way if it’s going to be harmful to our health.

Health educators can help prepare effective body image messages by teaching girls at a young age about body diversity. Being that we are exposed to media at an early age, we grow up thinking that being skinny is good and having fat is bad.  As young girls and even as adults, our role models are often celebrities and we try to emulate the way they walk, talk, and how they look. Having health educators and even school nurses educate young girls about body diversity can help girls start appreciating and loving their body shapes so that it is instilled in their minds as they grow up.

I do not think the media is making too much of an attempt to embrace more body shapes, sizes, and colors. Adele and Jennifer Hudson, for example, started their road to stardom as a curvier woman than what they are today. It seems as though it has become an expectation for celebrities to be thin.

I do realize that there have been more full-figured women like Melissa McCarthy from Identity Theft and Rebel Wilson from Bridesmaids appearing and taking lead roles in movies. However, I remember it was mentioned in the news that Rebel Wilson was being restricted from losing weight because it goes against the contract that she has with her movie producers. In this case, I think film producer restrict Rebel Wilson from dieting because she is an iconic full-figured woman who has made excellent movies in the comedy genre. Producers may feel that the audience may not find her humorous if she were to lose weight. Therefore, it is not so much that they embrace Rebel’s body, but instead they encourage her to stay heavy so that they the keep her fans and keep their ratings. That is only one example, but I still think that there needs to be more empowerment of body shapes within the media.